The BCCI is planning to organize a Women’s T20 league on the lines of the IPL. Secretary Jay Shah opened about future plans on structuring Women’s cricket in India.
A lot of Indian women cricketers have been performing in T20 leagues around the world such as The Hundred and the Women’s Big Bash League.
India’s T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur was also awarded Player of the Tournament.
For this award, she scored 399 runs and took 15 wickets.
Other women cricketers such as Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Shafali Verma are also participating in these leagues.
Jay Shah has announced the formation of a Women’s T20 league in the future.
A tournament named Women’s T20 Challenge is already being conducted during an IPL season that is a short tournament of five to six matches every year.
Snippets from Jay Shah’s interview
Said Shah in an interview with the Hindustan Times,
The Women’s T20 Challenge has drawn a huge interest among the fans and that is an encouraging sign.
We all want a league like IPL for our women cricketers, but it is not just about putting three or four teams and announcing the launch of a women’s IPL league.
He further added,
There are a lot of factors that come into play like a dedicated window, availability of international stars and bilateral commitments of member boards to name a few. We are exploring all our options and working towards organising a similar league for our female players in future.
Indian women cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have been very vocal about having a tournament like IPL for women and Shah shares their sentiment fully.
He also pointed out that if an Indian league is organized for women cricketers in the future, it will give them ample opportunities to rub shoulders with international stars of renown.
Players like Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have been very vocal about India having its own T20 league and helping overhaul the standard of the game.
Adding further, he said,
Having a league like IPL will surely benefit our cricketers as they will get to play alongside international stars. Other then Smriti and Harmanpreet, other Indian team women cricketers did well in leagues like The Hundred and WBBL. Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav are all sought-after players and role models in India. Their stint will definitely help them grow in confidence.
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